High Seas
by Sundiel260
Summary: Wilson P. Higgsbury considered himself to be a very nice gentlemen. A gentleman of science. However, while he may be polite and friendly, he does not extend that to everyone. Namely, pirates. So what would happen if said scientist just so happened to get himself mixed up with a ragtag group of scallywags on an adventure he never asked for? "SEND ME BACK HOME!" "NO!"


_Fire._

_It was warm, glowing softly in the darkness. But it wasn't very bright. Not enough fill the whole room with its light, but just enough to see plenty. Often times the wood popped and made a funny hissing noise and the flames danced higher before going back down low again._

_But its warmth was nothing compared to the warm hold he was in. Soft, yet secure. He felt safe and at ease, with the gentle rocking slowly but surely lulling him to sleep._

_It was… familiar._

_Something he had once but… so long ago._

_"__Are you asleep my baby?" A soft voice asked, barely above a whisper. It sounded so sweet and warm. Like a fire._

_He shook his head, though it wasn't very much. Sleep was coming upon him heavily, so his movements were slow and sluggish._

_The warm voice chuckled softly, and a gentle kiss was pressed against his forehead. "Oh my sweet baby." The voice coos. "It's late. You should sleep and rest your head."_

_He wants to sleep. He felt so tired and sleepy. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep away his worry. "'m'k." His little sleepy voice replies, snuggling closer._

_Soft slow circles pressed against his back, gentle and coaxing his heavy eyes to droop lower._

_"__Would you like your special song my baby?"_

_"… '__es…"_

_The warm voice chuckled softly again, then, they begin to hum a soft tune. He couldn't make out the words or understand most of it, but the soft tune danced in his mind as the voice hummed in time with the slow rocking. Notes wafted through the air as the fire seemingly danced with the melody, making the room even warmer and just a bit brighter._

_And then it stopped._

_It wasn't the gentle ending like he always heard each time his special song was sung. Nor was there a small ditty that joined in at the end sometimes. It just ended partway through and hung there._

_He blinked, tiredly. What happened to his song?_

_"__You always liked this song my baby." The voice said. "You would always ask for it whenever you felt sad or scared. It would always ease away your worries and fears."_

_"'__s good." He mumbled, rubbing his eye. He didn't understand why the voice stopped singing his special song. He was sleepy and couldn't sleep without his special song._

_The voice laughed quietly. "Yes. It was a good song."_

_"__is. is sa good song." He corrected._

_"… __No. Was."_

_Confused, he looked up. "wha you mean?"_

_"__You never got to hear the end of that song, my baby." The voice replied, his hair being smoothed down. "You never heard the end of it. Not that night."_

_He tilted his head. "wha night?"_

_"__The fire, my baby." The voice replied, sounding sad and distant. "Don't you remember the fire?"_

_He blinked, turning to look at the fire. Its glowing light greeted his sight, cracking against the wood like it had always done. Burning away the brown wood to a smoldering black ash._

_"__No. Not that fire. My baby."_

_Confused, he looked back at the voice… only to be greeted by a horrible sight._

_"__Remember the __**fire**__ my child? Remember how __**the whole house B̵̡̨̡̯̻̰̱̖̿͜Ŭ̶̡̙̱̘̥̈́́̓̀̑̋̚͝Ŗ̵̢̟͖̩̱͚̮́̉́̊͛̂͝N̵̨͖̠̦̺̹̻͇̂̑̐͜E̶̡̱͖̫̻̿̿͂̈́̿̅̓̔̉̍D̸̘̩̩̭͇̈̇͜?**__"_

_He screamed, pushing away the voice and fell to the ground. He gazed up as the voice rose, towering over him that its shadow cast over him like a cold blanket._

_"__**Ḑ̶̠͈̻̜͚̓ọ̷̰̗̭̰͗͛̊͆̎͐͘n̷̗̤͍̅'̴̻̻͔̲̭̤̰̻͛́̽̓̆̆̾̂͑t̵̛̩̟̱̙̾̌̽͗͌͌̈́̚͠ ̵̳̠̱̻͍͚̌͂̍́̊̆͘͠ỳ̶̱̭̻̞͇̲o̴̥̥͔͍̱͙͈̔͑̑̾̎́͜ͅͅu̷̹̜̬̖̖͎̇͗̀̈́̽́͑ ̸̧̰̻͍̦̬̝̝̝̖̎͝͝ȓ̵̗̈̌̓̿̐ę̷̙̮̰̘̭̭̮͉͙̔̏̀̽m̴̦͎̙͚͕̅̋̋͠e̵̥͔̟̜͒̀͊͋̽ͅḿ̶̤͐̊̏̇b̷̡̢͈̬̫̥̩̪̃͂͝e̵͕̳̝͐̾̌̍͜r̸̤͋̊?̶̘͖̏͑̾̕͠**__" The voice asked. "__**H̸̫̥̠͍̘̱̻̻͕̐o̸͈̹͍̲̝̩̯̼̺̍͒̓̆́͜͠w̴̬͖̪̝͋͘ ̵̛̝̣̄͗̽̊̑̕͝t̸͓̬̯̺̝͋͛̊̚ͅh̴̥̙̣́ę̴̻͍͓̟̉͑ͅ ̸̩̘͎̺̦̹̦́̄͗̈́̆͆̑̕͝͠f̸̢̬̱̰͇͚̭͓̜̅̓̕̚ͅì̴̢̼̟͔͔̞͔ŗ̵͉̅̃̀̓́̃e̴̩̲͕̾͜ ̶͍̓͛B̸̘̲͔̻͈̖̉̏̅̄̋̽́̕Ų̵͔͓̱̣͚̩̔̒̔̑̎̚R̷̺̜̙͑N̶͇͓͔̳͉̍͐̑͆̋̎͒͜ͅE̷̛̟̰͎͎͋̑̃͐͗̉̈́̉̎D̴͍̜͎̻̯͍̈́̇̾͋ ̴̢̮̙̪̹̰͆͋̏̆̄Ȩ̸̗̀̑̀̏̔́̌̚V̸̠̰͛́̋̌̈́Ȩ̸̺̹͈̾̒͂̓R̷̨̛̛̥̭͙̻̊̆͒͐͑͒͐͆Ỳ̶̨͓͕̗͖̗̘̫̦̋͐T̵͙̥̓͒͛͑͑̚Ḩ̷̨̮̰̝̗̟͑̌̎͐̀́͝͝͠Í̶̫̜͍͂͝Ń̸͍̞̭͚̺͂͠͝ͅG̷̩̞̪̖͑?̶̡̗̞̟̥̯̜͓̜̻͗̿͑̎̒̾͘͠**__"_

_Suddenly, he was surrounded by fire. Hot, burning, horrible fire that jumped out and tried to reach for him. Lapping at his legs, fingers, and anything else it could try to reach for. He screamed, backing away as best he could._

_"__**C̵̻̓̎͋͑̿̃͝ȏ̵̬̒͗͒͛͌͝m̸̻̦͚̲̭̂̔̀̄̀͗̔͘ę̷̙͓̳͈̺̬̗͓͆͗̀̿̀̈́̒͋̚ͅ.̶̩͉̺͌́͐̅́̀̀͑̾͝**__"The voice held out its arms. "__**C̷̡̡̩̹͉͈͌̽ͅo̴̜͌̈́͌͠m̴̧͎̪̮̻̗͖̪̿͆̈́͐̂e̴̬͇͚̮̙̒͛͒ ̵̠̞̭̣̔́̈́̈̊́͛̄͝b̷̛̖̦͉̎̃̀̕ȩ̴̼̳̺̱̤͒̍̋ ̴̨͔̤̽̽̊̑̈̓̈́̕ẅ̸̯̣̹͉̗͇͍̮́͐̊̂i̸̢̘̰͉̜͇̹͈̝̒̋t̶̛͔̹͕͉͓̤̱̔̊̔̆̊̅̕͝h̷̠̒́̎͆̈͑́̕ ̴̡̧͎̠̱̜̞̰͖̓̀̅̓̔̊ͅű̶̢̜̹̖̺͎͙͎͔͇̽̀̋̅̚ś̴̢̳͎̻̜͕͎̱̰̌͋͗ ̴̝̌̀̋̎̈́̐̕m̵̡̢̛͉͍͈̝̉̔̄͊̇̓̈́̉ ̸̡̖̖͎̩̩͇͖̖̅͗̾̑̒͑͐͌̌͘y̵̛͖̭͙͉̅̓͑̑̀̓̓͆ͅ ̴̤͍̩̜͙͚͇̭̮̋̋͌̊͆̒͌̚b̶̛̩͉͙̻͉̎̏̅͋͆̋͝ ̵͓͎͇̩̣̖̥̑à̸̳̻̯̖̳̅̋̾̈́͗͑͌̕ ̴̛̛̱̗̞̗̀̽͜b̶̧̧͚̣͚̥͙́́̔͋̌̑͠ ̶̨̥͖͙͍̂̈͐̿̓̽͝ẙ̷̡̪̫̙͂̐͗̀͗͒ ̵̥̦̙̺̗̪̫̉̓͒́̎́͛͗̈́͘ͅ.̸̝̯͑̀̐̀̾͆̓̕ ̶̱̗̭͔̩͖̝̈̕͝.̶̯̞͐̀̀̂̊̈͘͝ ̶̡̨̛̛͇̳̲̦͈͈̏̀̌͊̔̕ͅ.̷̨͝**__"_

_"__NO! NO!" He screamed, backing away further and further, trying to get away from those hands. The voice didn't stop. It kept coming closer and closer, reaching out for him with clawed hands that burned, mocking him. It took a lunge at him, and he jumped back, suddenly falling and—_

"OW!"

And pain greeted the back of his head.

Wilson, groaning in pain, slowly opened his eyes. The familiar sight of the dome observatory ceiling was almost bearable and welcoming were it not for the throbbing pain in the back of his head from enjoying it. Still, it was rather nice to see the familiar building ceiling high above him rather than his recent dream. Or rather nightmare to be more accurate.

"Bother. Not again." Wilson grumbled, flipping over and picking himself off the ground. "Wilson P. Higgsbury, you've got to stop doing this." He dragged a hand down his face, sighing irritably at himself as he picked up the wooden stool he had, regrettably, fallen asleep on. "Falling asleep when you should be working is not very gentlemen like." He set the stool down right where it should go, dusting off imaginary dust and sat back down on it. "And a waste of time."

With a huff, he looked down at his desk. It was very… unorganized, to say the least. Papers and books were sorted in unset stacks, jutting out here and there. Various items littered the table to small trinkets and ink bottles to feathers and rolled up unfinished blueprints. One book laid out open before him. Old, worn, thick with yellowing pages, but still in good condition to last maybe a few more years.

For many years he read this book. Front to back and back to front, yet he was always fascinated by it. _The World of Science and All Its Wonder_. Or so the title went. He knew this book didn't have everything he needed to know, but was filled with enough to help him get started in the science world.

There was so much interesting and fascinating things science could do! Like making light with energy, or setting water on fire, or helping improve medication, and even making inanimate objects move! It was a wonder what science could do! So many possibilities! So many discovers to make! Almost like magic but with reason and logic that helped the mind understand the world around them better!

Wilson smiled, running a hand across to yellow page.

_"__Wilson. I know this isn't much. But I want to give you this. It's… a something your parents wanted to give to you when you were older."_

His smile faltered.

_"__They… knew how much you enjoyed science when you were a child. And the many accidents you had with your 'experiments'. Heh heh… I know this will never bring them back, or ease away most of your pain, but think of it as a memento of them. Think of it as… a symbol. Of their love for you. Of how they wanted to guide you on the path you want to take and support you in any way that they could. Even if it's not very much."_

"…" Wilson stared at the page, eyeing over the words yet not really reading anything that was there. "… Even if it's not much… it's a symbol of love." He whispered to himself, clutching the thin rope around his neck. "Symbol of love…" He looked out the window.

The night sky was quite beautiful. No clouds and the weather was nice this time of fall. The full moon was high up, shining brightly with its pale light. It wasn't as bright as the sun, but Wilson could just make out the buildings in the distance. Few of houses had their lights on, but it was just enough to make out every building line and detail.

_"__Why don't you move closer to the village Wilson? It would be nice to see you every day instead of every few days. I would certainly enjoy seeing you here safe amongst everyone else and not have to worry about you in that old building."_

"It's not a building. It's an observatory."

_"__Right, right, yes, my mistake. But, really Wilson. Won't you consider moving closer to the village? I know it's been hard for you to trust other's into your life since… But, I worry for you as well. It's not healthy for a young boy such as yourself to isolate yourself so far from others."_

"I'm thirteen. I'm practically an adult."

_"__No. You're not. You're still very much a young lad, and still very much have a long way to go before you're an adult…"_

"…"

_"__Wilson… forgive me. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."_

"It's fine. I'm sorry for being so rude."

_"__Now now. You weren't being rude my boy. You were only trying to justify your actions. But I mean what I say when I tell you that I am worried about you. You're a bright boy. A smart intelligent young lad. I don't want to see you wasting away your time in that old building when you could be spending so much time with other children your age. You know, make friends, build relationships, and get to know other people. All that good stuff." _

"I know. It's just… what if the same thing happens again?"

_"… __oh Wilson. I… I get it. But, at least consider moving closer to the village? Just so I won't have to worry as much."_

"… Okay."

_"__Thank you. Now, how 'bout when stop somewhere and get something to eat? My treat of course."_

"It's always your treat." Wilson muttered, looking back at the book. "Has been for so many years now." He stared at the book a moment more before sighing a closing it. "That's… enough reading for now." He slid off the stool, walking over to his usual corner where a small cot waited for him.

Settling down, he gazed upward towards the ceiling, griping the string around his neck again. Its plain dark ceiling was the same, just like every night when he looked up. Dark, plain, empty… It left a hallow feeling inside of him, deep and longing.

With a sigh, he laid down, tucking the old worn blanket over himself.

"… None of this would have happened I didn't cause that fire…"


End file.
